Headlines

NHL announces 2009-10 pre-season schedule

by
Staff Writer
/ Nashville Predators

NEW YORK -- The National Hockey League today announced the dates and start times for the 2009-10 pre-season schedule, which runs from Monday, Sept. 14 through Wednesday, Sept. 30. The 109-game slate features four NHL clubs -- the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers and St. Louis Blues -- playing a total of six games in five European cities prior to their regular-season openers in the 2009 Compuware NHL Premiere series at Helsinki, Finland (Chicago/Florida) and Stockholm, Sweden (Detroit/St. Louis).

The Red Wings and their sizeable contingent of Swedish players travel to Karlstad, Sweden for a game with Farjestad on Sept. 30, ahead of their season-opening two-game series against the Blues in Stockholm on Oct. 2 and 3. The Blues will tune up for their showdown with the Red Wings by facing Linkoping HC in Linkoping, Sweden on Sept. 29.

The Blackhawks and Panthers, who open regular-season play with a two-game series in Helsinki on Oct. 2 and 3, each have two pre-season games in Europe. The Blackhawks face Swiss club ZSC Lions in Zurich, Switzerland on Sept. 29 in competition for the Victoria Cup, which pits an NHL team against the winner of Europe’s IIHF-sanctioned Champions Hockey League. The night before the Victoria Cup, the Blackhawks face Swiss club HC Davos in Zurich. The Panthers head to Tampere, Finland to take on Finnish club Tappara on Sept. 28 and face Jokerit in Helsinki on Sept. 30.

The people of Terrace, B.C., winners of the Canada-wide Kraft Hockeyville contest, will celebrate the grand prize when the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks open the NHL pre-season schedule in their community Sept. 14.